2013 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Outfielders

No player will enter next season with as much talent and upside, at such a young age, as Mike Trout and he will undoubtedly be one of the first few players chosen in all fantasy drafts.

This category is one of the most highly contested due to large pool of players in which you have to pick from. So, there is always an argument or twenty along the way. There are more five-category players here than there are at any other position, keeping in mind that there are also plenty more single-category stat stuffers to go around as well.

This brings about draft strategy. Please have one. There are many different ways to attack your draft, none of which are necessarily wrong. The one thing that you can control is what you know going into the draft. So do your homework and let us help you along the way.

If you solely focus on drafting studs for all three (3) of the outfield positions, you will more than likely lose out on opportunities at other positions. But, keep in mind that you will be able to provide help in more categories from this position than from any other single position in baseball. The 2013 Fantasy Baseball Rankings: Outfielders should help you decide who to build your team around. Remember value is the key to winning.

Changes you’ll want to keep an eye on:

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Josh Hamilton will remain in the AL West, but leaves the hitter-friendly Ballpark in Arlington in favor of the sunny beaches of Anaheim to form arguably one of the best hitting trios in Major League Baseball history (Trout, Hamilton & Pujols). He is a bit of an injury risk at age 31, but if you want first-round potential with a second-round pick, he is your man.

Justin Upton, the suspense is over, and after months of speculation, the Diamondbacks finally unloaded their star outfielder to the Atlanta Braves as part of 7-man swap. Look for him to rebound nicely in this lineup and produce well enough to land him around the Top 20 outfielders with the high probability of becoming a 20-20 guy again.

Michael Morse will open next season as a Seattle Mariner and join Kendrys Morales, Kyle Seager, Justin Smoak, Rual Ibanez and Jesus Montero to form a nice collection of power bats in a lineup that left a lot to be desired last season. Injuries limited Morse to just 102 games last season, however he still hit .291 with 18 home runs and 62 games. Morse should have an everyday job with the Mariners, and should be worth a mid-to-late round pick in most fantasy formats on draft day.

Giancarlo Stanton is a bona fide superstar without anyone to play alongside him. The Miami Marlins have completely blown up their roster......please see their depth chart and try not to laugh. While Stanton's fantasy fortunes would likely improve if he were traded to a team with a better offense, he can still be considered among the top 10 outfielders in any fantasy format.

Jose Bautista suddenly has a stacked lineup all around him, with table-setters like Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera in front of him. Bautista, 32, still has a ton of power in his bat, but there should be some worry that he might be a little tentative with the big swings in 2013, considering his wrist injury came on a swing, not by getting hit by a pitch or diving for a ball in the field. Still all that aside, due to his production the past few seasons, he should be a first-round pick in most drafts this spring.

Corey Hart underwent knee surgery in mid-January, so he is going to likely miss the first four (4) to six (6) weeks of the season. If he is available in the later rounds of your draft, take a gamble. At the very least, pay close attention to the waiver wire if he goes undrafted.

Nick Swisher will be singing “Cleveland Rocks” after signing a 4-year deal worth at least $56 million dollars with the Indians. Cha-ching. He is also going to probably hit cleanup on this team with three relatively speedy hitters ahead of him. Swisher has never struggled in the power category, averaging 25 homers over the past three seasons.

Shane Victorino, The Flyin' Hawaiian, was brought in by the Boston Red Sox to most likely bat second behind lead-off man Jacoby Ellsbury, and ahead of Dustin Pedroia, making it one of the better spots to hit in baseball.

Alfonso Soriano and Vernon Wells are among several outfielders who could possibly be dealt before spring training. The Cubs are on record stating they are willing to eat some of Soriano's remaining contract (2-years, $36MM) and the Angels realize that with Trout, Bourjos, Hamilton and Trumbo, there is no spot for Wells.

Michael Bourn is still looking for a place to sign, with the Orioles seeming to have the most interest. Some other teams mentioned were the Rangers, Giants and Reds. All contending teams. Any of those possible landing scenarios would be good for Bourn’s fantasy owners. B.J. Upton will replace Bourn in center field in Atlanta.

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Here are the Top 100 outfielders:

Updated 2/27/2013

Rank

Player

Team

Score

1

Braun,Ryan

MIL

140.31

2

Trout,Mike

LAA

130.68

3

Kemp,Matt

LA

125.40

4

Gonzalez,Carlos

COL

116.80

5

McCutchen,Andrew

PIT

110.84

6

Stanton,Giancarlo

MIA

106.69

7

Upton,B.J.

ATL

105.37

8

Victorino,Shane

BOS

101.36

9

Bourn,Michael

CLE

100.78

10

Gomez,Carlos

MIL

99.22

11

Cespedes,Yoenis

OAK

97.91

12

Ellsbury,Jacoby

BOS

97.79

13

Harper,Bryce

WAS

96.58

14

Jones,Adam

BAL

96.38

15

Rios,Alex

CHW

96.07

16

Bruce,Jay

CIN

94.53

17

Upton,Justin

ATL

92.47

18

Heyward,Jason

ATL

90.73

19

Gardner,Brett

NYY

88.37

20

Jennings,Desmond

TAM

88.27

21

Gonzalez,Adrian

LA

87.38

22

Cabrera,Melky

TOR

87.04

23

Holliday,Matt

STL

86.76

24

Craig,Allen

STL

86.56

25

Bautista,Jose

TOR

86.45

26

Crawford,Carl

LA

85.66

27

Crisp,Coco

OAK

85.14

28

Maybin,Cameron

SD

83.48

29

Jackson,Austin

DET

83.11

30

Choo,Shin-Soo

CIN

82.44

31

Willingham,Josh

MIN

82.27

32

Pagan,Angel

SF

82.26

33

Pierre,Juan

MIA

81.58

34

Bonifacio,Emilio

TOR

81.01

35

Hunter,Torii

DET

79.49

36

Gordon,Alex

KC

78.78

37

Markakis,Nick

BAL

77.42

38

Pence,Hunter

SF

76.61

39

De Aza,Alejandro

CHW

76.35

40

Zobrist,Ben

TAM

76.31

41

Prado,Martin

ARI

76.22

42

Aoki,Norichika

MIL

75.94

43

Revere,Ben

PHI

75.72

44

Davis,Chris

BAL

74.34

45

Cruz,Nelson

TEX

73.99

46

Hamilton,Josh

LAA

73.55

47

Morse,Michael

SEA

73.11

48

Venable,Will

SD

72.74

49

Hart,Corey

MIL

72.69

50

Werth,Jayson

WAS

72.67

51

Murphy,David

TEX

72.14

52

Trumbo,Mark

LAA

70.86

53

Fowler,Dexter

COL

70.84

54

Suzuki,Ichiro

NYY

69.95

55

Soriano,Alfonso

CHC

69.86

56

Granderson,Curtis

NYY

68.86

57

Cuddyer,Michael

COL

67.82

58

Marte,Starling

PIT

67.64

59

Stubbs,Drew

CLE

67.63

60

Ethier,Andre

LA

67.29

61

Beltran,Carlos

STL

66.85

62

Mastroianni,Darin

MIN

64.40

63

Dirks,Andy

DET

63.75

64

Jay,Jon

STL

63.45

65

Reddick,Josh

OAK

62.96

66

Cain,Lorenzo

KC

62.87

67

Swisher,Nick

CLE

62.45

68

Eaton,Adam

ARI

62.19

69

Span,Denard

WAS

61.52

70

Jones,Garrett

PIT

61.46

71

Viciedo,Dayan

CHW

61.38

72

Maxwell,Justin

HOU

61.22

73

Ludwick,Ryan

CIN

60.74

74

Kubel,Jason

ARI

59.97

75

Martin,Leonys

TEX

59.82

76

Ruggiano,Justin

MIA

59.08

77

Saunders,Michael

SEA

58.71

78

Joyce,Matt

TAM

57.85

79

Brantley,Michael

CLE

56.75

80

Rasmus,Colby

TOR

56.57

81

Quentin,Carlos

SD

55.52

82

Doumit,Ryan

MIN

55.02

83

Young Jr.,Eric

COL

54.09

84

Colvin,Tyler

COL

52.50

85

Snider,Travis

PIT

51.81

86

Hicks,Aaron

MIN

51.46

87

Young,Chris

OAK

49.46

88

Ross,Cody

ARI

49.21

89

Francoeur,Jeff

KC

48.79

90

Bourjos,Peter

LAA

47.94

91

Dyson,Jarrod

KC

47.53

92

DeJesus,David

CHC

47.38

93

Reimold,Nolan

BAL

47.12

94

Parra,Gerardo

ARI

46.44

95

Davis,Rajai

TOR

44.19

96

Morrison,Logan

MIA

44.04

97

Mayberry,John

PHI

43.76

98

Gomes,Jonny

BOS

40.11

99

Hairston,Scott

CHC

37.79

100

Denorfia,Chris

SD

37.44

Please see the original Fantasy Baseball article which helps explain the rankings system.

About Kurt Turner

Kurt's fantasy advice is featured on USA Today Sports, Bleacher Reports, SiriusXM and Fox Sports. He is the owner of FantasyKnuckleheads.com and has been butchering topics here for over 15 years. Follow him on Twitter

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